Just a normal summer camp
by Beccab713
Summary: This is a story of how Jason, Leo and Piper would meet if they were just normal teens doing normal things and having fun together at a regular summer camp. I'm going to rate it T because I don't know what's to come! Trust me, it's a whole lot better than it sounds! I DON'T OWN PJO OR HOO!
1. Arrival

My dad told me one day out of the blue that he was sending me away to a sleep away camp.

_By the way, Piper, _he'd said one day at dinner, _I sent out an application for you to go to a sleep away camp called 'Pack Forest', and you were accepted._

Way to go dad.

* * *

So, I'm driving in now and all I can see for miles is trees and grass. Wait. There's a parking lot up ahead with plenty of cars. I can see kids and parents with suitcases coming out of cars and hugging and kissing and saying good-bye. When dad's car pulls up I can see two boys come out of cars, one with one huge duffel, and the other with a huge duffel and a few smaller bags. Dad gets out of the car, comes around to my side and opens the door for me. I climb out and look around. There's some kids that are about my age, 15. Some are older too. The two boys I saw before are walking down a path, to get cabin arrangements I guess. Dad hands me my bag, a big black duffel, hugs me and kisses the top of my head.

"I'll miss you, kiddo. See you in a few weeks." He tells me. I let go and I watch as he pulls the car out of the lot and takes off down the long road.

I begin to walk down the path I saw some kids walking down before. Before long, I come across a log cabin and a few picnic tables. I walk around the side and see an entrance. I enter and shuffle over to a table where a sign says "Girls: Cabin Assignments" In big pink letters. There's a cheery short girl with long brown hair and a red nose sitting behind the table with a clipboard and a marker. Her name tag reads, "Junior". What kind of a name is that?

"Name please?" She asks ever girl in a sweet voice. As the line gets shorter and shorter I hop on it, standing behind a blonde girl and another girl who looks the exact opposite of her. The two girls are talking like they're family, so I assume they're sisters. The line keeps getting shorter and shorter as each girl passes through, until I'm finally at the front.

"Name please?" Junior asks me in her sweet voice.

"Um... Piper. Piper McClean." I say shyly.

"I have you right here, sweetie. You're in my cabin, Neversink." She tells me, and marks my hand with an N and an S. Next comes a number. she writes down a fifty-eight on my right hand and I look at her quizzically. "It's your bunk number, sweetie." She says. I move out of the way so the next girl can come through and I move onward to the cabins. Neversink? What kind of a name is that?

"What cabin are you in?" A voice, female, asks from behind me. I turn around and see the blonde girl and the other girl that I was standing behind on line.

"Uhmm..." I start. I get kind of shy around people sometimes, considering people aren't generally nice to me. "Neversink." I finally say.

"Me too! I'm Jenica and this is my cousin Kaylynn." The blonde girl tells me. She seems really nice. The brunette girl looks at me and smiles the same warm smile her cousin has.

"Piper." I say. The three of us walk together to the cabin and find our bunks. I'm on the second to last bunk at the top, and Kaylynn's right next to me. Jenica, though, is all the way at the beginning of the row, by the counselor's beds. Wait... We have _two _counselors?

Anyway, Jenica's at the beginning of the row. On the bottom bunk of her bed is our volunteer, Cassidy I think her name was. According to Jenica, who's been here before, we don't see much of her. Next to Jenica on the top bunk was Christiana, or Chris. She had short black hair with a bright red chunk in the front. Under Chris was Catie. She seemed nice, though I didn't really talk to her much. She had blonde hair that was back in a pony tail. Next to Chris's bed on the top was Sabrina, who came with a bunch of kids from Yonkers, New York. She was dark skinned and had her hair in a thick braid. Under her was Jocelyn, who didn't really talk at all. She was another girl from Yonkers and liked to keep to herself. Then there was me, Piper. I always kept my hair in a french braid, no matter what. I have strange eyes, they like to change color. Under me was this girl Diamond, who was yet another girl from Yonkers. When I first saw her at opening circle, which is where we all play what Junior calls "Fun-get-to-know-you-name-games", I thought she would be trouble by the way she acted around the other kids from Yonkers. Now that I kind of got to know her, though, she was really funny, actually. Anyway, on the top of the last bunk bed was Kaylynn, the girl with the brown hair and eyes who was Jenica's cousin. Under her on the last bunk was a girl names Kelly, who I didn't really know well. Together, we were the girls of Never (Ever) Sink.

* * *

That night I walked out of my cabin to shower. I had my little black makeup bag full of little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and soap. When I got to the bath house, there was already a line. I stood outside for a little while, but got tired of standing, so I sat down at one of the benches. Pretty soon, the line hadn't shortened at all, and the boy's line was even longer than ours was. Some of the boys took my idea and started sitting down at the benches next to their friends. All the benches were filled up soon except for the two spots on either side of me.

"These seats taken?" A male voice asks. I look up from my spot and see two boys. One's tall and blonde, with blue eyes and a handsome face. He's carrying around a camera that has the name JASON on it in red letters. Next to him is a boy that I can only describe as a latino santa's elf. Seriously, that's what he looks like. I recognize them as the boys I saw when my dad's car was pulling into the parking lot.

"No." I say, a bit shyly. Jason sits to my right, and the other kid is to my left, lapping his foot violently. I can't help but laugh a little.

"I'm Jason, by the way. Jason Grace. This is Leo. We're both from the Mongaup cabin." He tells me. Is it normal for your brain to turn to mush when a cute guy stares at you? I wouldn't know, considering none of the guys at my school are actually cute.

"Piper. McClean." I say. I'll admit it, I wasn't really being shy anymore. I guess.

"So, what brings you to this part of camp?" Leo asks.

"Uhmm... showering? Kind of like my whole cabin is? I'm guessing you guys are too." I said, giggling a bit.

"Right. I forgot, only one girl cabin gets to go in for showers. Lucky. There's twice as many boy cabins, so two of us have to go in. Tonight it's Mongaup and Big Indian. But first thing tomorrow morning it's Sugarloaf and Balsam. Suckers!" Leo said, kind of excited looking.

"Well... that's uhm... interesti-" I started, but was cut off by Jenica calling my name.

"Piper! C'mere! I saved a shower for you! Hurry before someone takes it!" Jenica screamed.

"I'm being summoned. It was cool talking to you guys. See you later, I guess." I say, backing away. Is my face red? It feels red. Leo seems nice, I guess. A bit hyper, but he's cool. Jason's pretty cool, too. He's got a nice face. I just kept rambling on and on in my head until I reached an empty shower.

"Piper? Is that you?" Someone in the stall next to me asked. How did they know it was me just by my footsteps?

"Y-yeah..." I said cautiously.

"Chill girl, it's me! Jenica!" She said.

I started to laugh while I was getting undressed. Here I was, stressing that someone was stalking me, when all along it was just my crazy new friend. "What's up?" I asked.

"Uhmm... the shower head." She said proudly. Something tells me she was just waiting for me to say that. "Who were those boys you were talking to?" She asked, and I could tell by her voice that she was thinking I was some kind of slut or something that just sits down with the cutest boys I could find.

"uh... Jason and Leo. They're cool. They kind of just sat down and we started talking." I said.

"That one boy's kind of cute." She murmured, just for me to hear. We were in the showers after all.

"I know..." I murmured back, thinking she was talking about Jason. Then I caught myself. "Wait. Which one?" I asked.

"The little one. I could tell you were interested in the blonde one, who was carrying around his camera." She stated. How did she know this?

Showers went by quickly for us, considering other people had to get in too. We dried off, got dressed, and before I went out I tied my hair back into it's usual french braid. Jenica was ringing out her blonde hair when she came out. We got our stuff and started back to our cabin again. When I pushed open the thin wooden door to the girl's side of the bath house, I still saw Jason and Leo sitting there on the bench, Jason was fiddling with his camera and Leo was still shaking his foot.

"Hey guys." Jenica said. Leo was the only one who looked up, Jason was focused on his camera. Jenica winked at Leo, making his tan face go red. She sat down next to him, swinging her wet hair behind her. I went behind Jason and stood there, checking out his pictures. One was of a sunset, a combination of beautiful pinks and dark blues. It was absolutely breath taking. Another was of a bunch of kids sitting at a lunch table arm wrestling. It looked like one of those last-day-of-elementary-school pictures, because everyone was looking really happy and young. I couldn't tell what the next picture was, because it was really dark, but I saw Jason's eyes reflect in the glass and I could see him looking at me in the reflection too. Suddenly I became really self-conscious.

"Those are really good." I tell him. "I like that one with the kinds wrestling. It reminds me of what school should be like."

"Your school isn't like that?" He asks.

"To bo honest, I'm not too sure what my school is like. My old school wasn't. I used to go to a private school, where they teach you to love God and respect each other. I was the only girl in my class last year so my dad's sending me to public school this year." I say. It was true.

"That sucks. Do you know what school he's sending you to?" He asks.

"Some place called Fallsburg. It's only a few miles from here, and that's my local public school."

"That's kind of cool, because that's where I go." He says.

I stand there with my mouth open for a few seconds. So... I get to live with this cute guy for like... a week or two. Then, when summer's over he's going to be in my new school. YES!

We talked for a few more minutes about how public school and my old school were both weird, but completely different, until it was their turn to shower and Jenica and I had to go.

"So... how'd it go with Leo?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"seriously, girl? I was sitting right next to you the whole time and you didn't hear anything we were talking about!" She said in utter disbelief.

"Hey, technically I was standing, and I was busy talking to Jason. Apparently we're going to the same school now." I say.

We walk single file up to the door, because the path is so narrow, take off our shoes, or else the health director takes points off of our cabin at breakfast, and get into our bunks. I drift off to sleep pretty fast, dreaming of how soft Jason's hair looks.

**So... this is the first chapter of my new story. I hope you guys like it, cause it's kind of like the adventures I have at my camp. I would also like to explain the whole points off of the cabin thing. So, at my camp we get scored on how clean our cabins are. The nurse, or health director as they preferred us to call her, would walk around from cabin to cabin and see if we had any garbage outside on the lawn, shoes in the isles of the cabin, clothes anywhere, or dirt all over the floor. The cabin that is the cleanest at some point gets to eat lunch first that day. So... please please please review! I would really like to know how this story is!**

**I DON'T OWN PJO OR HOO SADLY!**

**~becca**


	2. Boys and groups

**I want to thank nikitabella for reviewing on just about everything I update :) It makes me feel special when I get reviews from the same people, and it lets me know that you guys are interested in my stories! Thanks to everyone who reviews!**

* * *

I walked out of my cabin early the next morning to go brush my teeth. I'd been up all night talking with the girls, and when I finally fell asleep it seemed like I'd only gotten to close my eyes for a minute when I heard this incredibly loud noise coming from Diamond. She was snoring. Wait... Diamond was the same girl who told us last night before I fell asleep, "If any of y'all snore, you best be going because we don't want to be up all night." So, when she started started to snore, I began moving, shaking my bunk back and forth. I heard the snoring cease, but I didn't stop moving. I heard Diamond mumble something, get on the floor, and stay there. Success!

"It's crazy how you made Diamond sleep on the floor last night." Jenica said, sitting down next to me on the bench with our full water bottles.

"I had to do it. I was loosing sleep! Remember, you're my friend, meaning you have to deal with me if I wake up all grumpy from lack of sleepage." I said, and Jenica laughed.

"Who's getting a lack of sleepage?" A voice asked. I looked up to see those now familiar blonde hair and blue eyes. Jason! Calm down, Piper, he's not going to like you if you get over-excited every time he talks to you.

"Neversink, if Diamond keeps snoring." I tell him. I couldn't stop a smile from peeking up on my face. Jenica looked over at me and laughed.

"Yeah, but this one here had a genius plan. She just kept shaking her bunk and Diamond eventually woke up and slept on the floor." Jenica reveals to them. I felt my face get a little red.

"Nice, Piper!" Leo said, raising his hand to give me a high-five. I smacked his hand and moved over, squashing against Jenica to make room for them on the bench. "Sit." I commanded.

"Sure." Jason agreed. He sat right next to me. RIGHT NEXT TO ME. His muscles were touching mine, and we were squished into each other when Leo sat down.

"So how's Mongaup?" Jenica asked, and I could tell she just wanted to talk to Leo.

"Pretty... okay. Dan keeps us up all night farting, so it sucks." Leo says, and Jason nods sadly. Dan was the counselor for the Mongaup cabin, and he could be pretty funny if he wanted to be. I heard a whistle blow, and some of the counselors stood by the basketball hoop in front of the cabin area and yelled, "Circle up at the lodge!". Basically, we had to walk down to the dining hall and form a giant circle. We play games and stuff until one of the volunteers come out and tell us our food is ready. Then they dismiss us by what we're wearing.

We walk in sort of a messed up line. Jenica and I are on either side of Leo, and Jason's right behind me, fiddling with his camera. Jenica looks over at me, then looks at Leo. "So Leo..." She starts. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She asks.

"Well, I want to be a-" he starts, but Jenica starts yelling before he gets the chance.

"LIAR!" She screams, and we both burst into laughter. We're supporting each other up with our elbows, and our eyes are watering so much from laughing so hard. Then a tall figure walks in front of us.

"Hey Josh." Leo says, giving the tall guy a slap on the shoulder. He turns around and I see his face. He's cute. Not as cute as Jason, but I really doubt anything's going to happen between us. Josh, however, things could happen with.

"Leo, introduce us to your friend." Jenica commands.

"I'm Josh. I'm in Big Indian." He says, not even giving Leo a chance to say anything. Nice.

We finally get down the the dining hall and mostly everyone is already there. We were in the middle of the big mush of people, so some were still coming down. The counselors didn't have any kind of supplies with them, like they did yesterday at dinner, so we were going to do something as a group. Great.

"C'mon down everyone!" Junior shouted. When everyone was in the circle and finally quiet, the counselors explained the game by showing it to us. One of the more hairy counselors, Greg, started singing a song and skipping in a circle. Let me tell you, _that_ was a sight I never wanted to see again. He stopped in front of the counselor Dan, who was pretty big, and started dancing, then Dan started dancing and took Greg's place in the middle of the circle and started skipping, making the ground shake.

"Your turn!" Da shouted when he landed in front of this one small kid, Bobby. Bobby took off around the circle and started singing, making people laugh. This one girl Sam yelled across the circle when Bobby stopped, "Bobby! Where do you take your dance lessons? I want to join you!" to which Bobby's sister, Izzy, replied in a mumble, "In the backyard."

When the whole game was over I felt pretty foolish. I'd taken dance lessons for a while when I was younger, but I've never been the girlie and most outgoing person. We all stood around in the circle again, laughing about what had just happened. The counselors stuck three fingers in the air each, signaling for us to shut up, but in a nice way.

"Now! Anybody who's wearing a zip up hoodie can go." Not me. I was in a T-shirt and shorts. About five kids left the circle to go wash their hands.

"Anybody who's wearing green can go." Not me again. Or Jenica. Or Leo. Or Jason. _Or Josh... _my mind added.

"Anybody who's hungry can go." And, that was me. And Jenica. And Leo. And Jason. _And Josh... _my mind once again added. I have to remember to mentally slap myself every time I do that.

We stood in line for a little while talking, but eventually it was time to wash our hands. "Wah your hands, gotta wash your hands, wash your hands gotta wash your hands! Dry your hands by shaking them off! Paper towels, only two pumps! Stand up by your table, do not touch your table!" The counselors sang in unison. Oh Gods... this was going to be a long week.

"Can anybody tell me what the New York state bug is?" One of the volunteers, Justin asked nervously. He must not have been used to being in front of people.

"Ladybug!" Somebody from the Big Indian table shouted. I realized it was Josh.

"Yeah... The Nine Spotted Ladybug.." He said. Big Indian got breakfast first, which wasn't too bad for us, I guess, because we were only a table away from them and we went up by table order. We sat with our cabins.

Breakfast went by pretty fast, I guess you could say. It was nice and warm this morning, but we were warned that it was going to get cold. We all walked out of the dining hall in cabin order to get assigned to our 'lesson groups', which, Jenica tells me, are the groups we learn about the 'environment' in. We all stood in a circle and waited to hear our names called by a counselor. Everybody left... one by one... except me and a group of misfit kids.

"Alright. The rest of you are with me." Greg, the hairy counselor, said.

I looked around and recognized a few faces. I recognized Rayden, and Izzy and Shannon. And... Josh... YES! He's in my group!

"So, kitties, today, we're going to play a game of hide and seek... in the woods." He added in a deep voice.

We walked a little while until we got to the woods. I was walking behind Josh the whole time and staring at the back of his curly hair creepily.

"The way this game works," Greg started explaining the game, "Is one person stays here and counts to thirty while everybody hides. You can hide with another person, I don't really car, just don't go outside the orange tape." he gestured to the orange tape that isolated us from the rest of the woods. "The person counting stops at thirty, like I said, but when they look for people, they can't call out names, only what you're wearing, and they can't move. You, you're it." He says, pointing to Rayden, who groans and takes his place at the counting spot. I look over at Josh and see him winking at me. WINKING AT ME. Then he started gesturing towards the woods, as I realized he wanted me to hide with him. BEST DAY EVER ALREADY.

"One... two... three..." Rayden starts counting, and Josh grabs my hand and starts walking away with me.

"What are you doing?" I protest, but I'm actually enjoying it.

"I'm Josh by the way. We're going to hide together." He tells me. He should know that I already know his name.

"Piper. The name's Piper." I say, letting him drag me behind a tree. We were pressed so close, I could feel him breathing, and I'm pretty sure he could feel my heart beat get faster and faster. Yup. I definitely liked him, and now I knew that he liked me.

"Thirty! Purple shirt behind the rock, I found you!" I heard Rayden yell from down below. We weren't behind the border, but I could see it right in front of me.

Rayden called out about two more people before he started counting down from twenty, giving us more time to get closer. Josh took my hand and pulled me behind a beaver dam by the stream. Se had to crouch against each other again because there was so little space on the thicker side of the dam, and we didn't want to get caught.

Three more people down and Rayden counts down from ten. Josh and I run around trying to find a place to hide. There's five seconds left and Josh finds a tree, but it's too late for me. I dunk behind a rock and Rayden spots me right away. "Orange T-shirt behind the rock" He says, and I'm out. I look over at Josh and smile, giving him a thumbs up.

The game ends soon and we head back to the cabin area. We're walking and Josh and I are talking and laughing when this kid comes up behind me, Daniel, I learned his name is, and asks us if we were from the same school or area. When we say no, he tells us we act like we've been best friends forever. That made me blush a little.

We skipped lunch to be with our lesson groups, so pretty soon it's time for dinner. We wait by the cabins, Jenica, Leo, Jason and I, for them to call for circle up.

I look around for the now familiar mop of brown hair, and spot it by another bench. There's a girl next to him, though. Kaylynn, from my cabin. They're laughing and she's twirling a piece of hair around her finger. I felt crushed. Jenica must've noticed because she matted me on the arm and nudged me towards Jason. When I shook my head silently, she gave me a quizzical look. _Later. _I mouth to her.

Circle up is called and I numbly walk to the Dining hall and play the game. I wash my hands quickly and sake a seat next to Jenica at the table.

"So, what's wrong? Why won't you go for Jason and why were you staring at Josh with a sad look on your face?" Jenica demanded. To be completely honest, I was so happy to have a friend like Jenica, because I'd never had one before. She always seemed to know what was wrong and she actually cared.

"It seemed like he liked me today, and I sort of liked him. Jason's too good for me, and he probably already has a girlfriend." I explained in a small voice.

"Piper. Please. Have you looked in the mirror lately? You can be a dependent from Aphrodite herself, for all we know. I asked Jason today and he even told me he wasn't single." She tops me, but I don't reply.

Dinner passes by quickly and soon enough we're in the bath house brushing our teeth until only two people remain, just me and Kaylynn. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a note and hands it to me.

"Read this, Piper. You won't believe what that ass said." She says.

I unfold the note. _Kaylynn, meet me behind my cabin tonight after lights out. We can make out or something. Josh. _he wrote in sloppy handwriting.

"Yeah, what an ass. What did you say?" I asked.

"I never responded. I don't like him, this is just for laughs. Let him get in trouble, I'll tell him the little monkey who gave it to me never did." She says, and walks out of the bath house with out another word. That girl was cruel... I liked it.

**Thanks for everyone who reads and favorites and reviews this story! It means a lot!**

**~Becca**


	3. The kiss of a lifetime

I woke up the next morning in a relatively good mood. I still had my hair back in a french braid, like usual, because I hate my hair down. Then I remembered what happened with Kaylynn in the bathroom last night and I realized, I didn't care. There was still Jason, right? I mean, maybe Jason and I couldn't be boyfriend/girlfriend, but we could still be friends.

"Anybody want to go fishing?" Emily, our counselor asked. Nobody moved an inch, so I just got up and grabbed my clothes for today and my bag with shampoo and stuff. I headed towards the door and pushed it open with one swift movement. I walked down the path and was pleased to find nobody out yet except the people who were going fishing. I opened the door to the bath house and again, nobody was there. I grabbed one of the best showers, it warmed up really fast, and turned it on while I got undressed.

The water warmed in no time. I got in and stood under the warm water. It felt good, since it was freezing outside now. I put shampoo into my now wet hair and while I washed it out and replaced it with conditioner I thought about what today would bring. I thought about getting mail, since dad told me he would try to send me some kind of package with useless stuff everyday. I seemed to turn the water off almost as soon as i'd turned it on. I dried off, dressed, and put my hair back into its french braid while I was still behind the curtain. I walked out just as my Neversink girls were walking in to shower. I walked out of the bath house and got my small sketch book from my bunk. I had to search for my pencil case, but eventually I found it buried beneath my bathing suit.

I headed back out to the benches to draw and found none other than Jason and Leo sitting there, hair still wet from their showers. I sat beside Jason in a casual way, but inside my heart was thumping like a drum and my stomach was doing somersaults.

"Hey boys." I said cooly. I saw Jason smile a little, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

"Hey Piper. What's that?" Jason asks, pointing to my mini sketch book.

"It's my adorable little sketch book. I feel like being a bad ass some times so I stay up after lights out and sketch." I explained.

"So bad ass." Jason says, laughing a little.

"Very." Leo agrees.

"CIRCLE UP AT THE LODGE!" the counselors scream.

"Let's get going" Jason says, he stands up and offers me his hand. I take it, my brain turning to mush at the touch of his soft fingers. He lets go awkwardly and the three of us start walking down the the Dining Hall.

We get down there after a brief walk and they force us to play some stupid game that involves two hula-hoops. It was pretty dumb if you ask me. They dismiss us by what we're wearing and I'm left back with the losers, and Jenica, again. We went up together and washed our hands. The counselors were singing again. AGAIN. Do they ever stop singing?

We sat down at our table and they called us up starting with Big Indian, because they got the question right. "Hey Piper," Kelly, one of the girls in my cabin started after we got our food. "Can you be my buddy for the bathroom?" She asked. That was another major rule for camp. You can't go anywhere alone, you need a buddy. I'd already broken that rule this morning. I agreed to go and we told a counselor that we were going to the other side of the lodge for the bathroom. I head someone shout "MAIL CALL!" And a few campers groan.

"Hurry up, there's mail call. I want to know if I got something." I told her through the door. I heard a flush about five minutes later, and I knew that it was too late.

"Piper McLean?" Allie, another counselor asked.

"Here?" I said uncertainly.

"Come up here, you missed your mail! Now you have to do something in front of everybody to get your mail!" Perfect. I walked up to the front of the dining hall, right where everybody gets their food, and put a huge smile on my face for everybody. Hey, if I had to do something embarrassing, at least I could put on a show. I looked around at everybody and saw blank expressions, except at the Neversink and Mongaup tables. I saw my entire cabin smiling, cameras poised at the end of the table to get the best shot. The Mongaup cabin looked a bit bored, to be honest, except for Jason and Leo, who wore smiles stretching from ear to ear and were flashing me thumbs up as I looked at them. There was another kid looking at me and smiling, some funny kid from my lesson group named Cody. I looked at him and smiled.

"Dan, would you like to show our little victim here what she has to do for her three packages?" Allie said. Three? Why was I getting three? Then it hit me. Dad had sent a package in before he dropped me off, but we'd gotten there too late, so they had to send it out the next day. He probably sent one in yesterday too, but it took a while to get here. Then, he sent one in last night, thinking it would get here this morning. I'm going to have a bone to pick with him when I get home.

"I would love to. You, Miss McLean, are going to give a lovely little smooch to this here bear skull. Greg would you like to demonstrate?" Dan said. I had to _kiss _a bear skull. I looked over to Jason's table and saw his smile turn into a little frown of disappointment, and my brain was hoping that was because he would rather be kissing me. I _hoped. _I turned my head and watched Greg give a little kiss to the skull. His beard got caught in the teeth a little, but he played it off like he was joking.

"Go ahead, Piper." Dad said, giving me one of his '_big bear' _looks. See, he looks like a bear, the campers think. He's dark skinned, big, has a very hairy face, and makes strange growling noises when you do something her doesn't like. Yeah. He's practically a bear. I smiled a big smile at everybody, earning a few laughs here and there. I leaned in and pressed my lips against the bone for a second, then pulled back. The campers hooted and whistled, and I heard a few cat calls from Leo. I walked back to my table with my head held high and three packages in my hand. A counselor came over and watched me open them up, just to make sure that there was nothing they had to take away.

"Go ahead, open them." Jenica egged on from the seat next to me. I had a swarm of kids around me, most of them I didn't even know. I opened the first package and started laughing. There was a pair of sunglasses and a dinosaur hat in them. Only my father... The next package had an assortment of strange things. There were monkeys that would fly if you flung them, kazoos, what looked like a chinese food container that would've held rice holding puzzles, and something I wasn't sure of. The last package had more colored pencils in them, which was exactly what I needed considering mine were wearing down to nubs.

* * *

People surrounded me for the rest of the day. After lunch we had cabin time, but it started thundering so the counselors didn't want us outside. One of our counselors, Junior, had gotten sick, so she was with the nurse getting medicine and resting. Emily was on watch outside, making sure nobody was running outside or anything fun like that. Allie, the one counselor who decided to torture me, was placed in our cabin to watch us. When she wasn't looking, Jenica and I snuck out of the cabin to fool around with the benches and the towels outside. I looked up at the Big Indian cabin and saw a bunch of boys staring at us and laughing. So, we were putting on a show for them. She started sitting on the benches and making faces at the boys, making them laugh and point. It got really fun. We stood up and started dancing and at that pointing I noticed Josh watching us, particularly me. I felt my face getting hot. We started laughing along with the boys until we knocked a bench over.

"Girls! Get inside the cabin! NOW!" Allie shrieked at us. We walked inside the cabin and climbed on to my bunk, since it was right in front of the window. We could see the Big Indian boys perfectly. We continued to make faces until Kaylynn came over and joined us. _That _seemed to make Josh happy. He started goofing off and making strange faces in the window.

"There's a group of boys standing outside!" Caty said, pointing at them huddled in a group outside the cabins.

"Jenica, will you please go see what's up with the boys?" Allie asked her, clipping away at her nails now.

Jenica left for a few minutes and we watched her confront the boys out in the rain. She came back a few minutes later soaked and laughing hysterically.

"What happened?" Caty asked.

"Why are they standing out there?" Kelly demanded.

"Tell us!" Sabrina shrieked.

When Jenica calmed down she looked up at us from where she had sat down and smiled. She started to explain. "The Mongaup boys are out there because they were having a farting contest. Dad farted in front of the fan and stank the whole cabin up! They're going to be out there for a _long time!_" She said. We all started laughing, some of us so hard we had to clutch our sides.

* * *

"Oh my God, you look freezing, take my hoodie." I offered Jason as we walked back outside when the rain stopped. It was nearly dinner already, so we clearly didn't get much done that day.

"Thanks." He said taking it.

We sat there together alone in silence for a while, then Jason finally spoke up. "If you don't mind my asking, do you have any talents? I don't mean it like you appear that you don't, but I'm making- or trying to make- a film about people with outstanding talents. I was told my the guy who would show my film tat I had to have average people who just have this thing about them... something that makes them ordinary yet so special. That's what I thought of the first time I saw you. Leo's in it too, he's amazing at beatboxing." Jason said really fast. It took a moment for me to think about any talents I had. I was okay at drawing, but now too good. Singing? Yeah, I was pretty good at that, I guess.

"I sing a bit." I offered.

"Sample something for me. Just... let me film it." He said, taking out his camera, not a digital one, but a camcorder. "Go." He said.

"Alright... I guess I'll sing, 'Do you hear the people sing?' from Les Miserables. It's my favorite." I said. I took a deep breath before starting. The words flowed softly from my mouth.

"_Do you hear the people sing?_

_Singing the song of angry men,_

_It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again,_

_When the beating of your heart,_

_Echos the beating of the drums,_

_There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." _I finished and looked at Jason. He clicked a button and looked up at me, eyes wide. I was about to say something when he leaned in and pressed his lips to my unsuspecting ones. _Oh My GOD. JASON IS KISSING ME. _My mind screamed a few more sentences before I came to my senses and kissed him back. When he pulled away I was smiling like an idiot and so was he.

"I've been..." Jason started, but seemed to not be able to finish his thought. So I finished it for him.

"I know..." I said, equally breathless. That's probably the third or fourth rule I've broken in the past two and a half days. I rattled the rules off in my head.

**1.) Always have a buddy.** _Broken._

**2.) You can love camp, but this is not love camp. **_Broken._

**3.) EHSTO. Everybody Has Something To Offer.**

**4.) IALAC. I Am Loving And Caring.**

**5.) No cursing. **_Broken._

**6.) Have fun! **_Uh..._

I looked at Jason and smiled. I took his hand and walked down to the Dining Hall as the counselors calles 'Circle Up'. The rest of the day was a daze. I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and was consumed by pleasant dreams. Most of which contained Jason and his lips.

**Sorry about the cursing! And also, I just wanted to let you guys know that most of what happens here is what happened to me at my sleepaway camp. I had to kiss a bear skull, I was in the Neversink cabin, there was actually a counselor names Dan who farted into the fan and looked like a bear, and those are actually camp rules! :) I hope ypu guys like this story, because I love writing about it!**

**~Becca!**


	4. Overnights, Oh me oh my

**Hey Look! ****_It's an update!_**

* * *

Ahh... the overnight. The day couldn't have started out more crappy. I was woken up at four in the morning by Kelly, who looked like she was about to pee in her pants. "Come with me to the bathroom! I have to pee and nobody else will wake up!" She whispered fast. I got up quickly and put my shoes on. We ran outside. The only counselor out there was Dan. The counselors took turns every night sitting at the benches by the bath house just in case any of the campers needed anything. They called themselves 'owls'. Pretty stupid if you ask me. I sat down next to Dan at the bench.

"Hey kid." He said sleepily.

I waved a hand in front of his bloodshot eyes as he yawned. "Hey Dan..."

My head suddenly thought of an awesome idea. I went over to the water fountain that was in between the boys and girls bathroom doors and wet my hands. I walked back over to Dan and curled my wet fingers and let them go, sending droplets of the freezing water at Dan.

Like I said, the water from that fountain is freezing, so Dan's bloodshot eyes lit up and he started looking around for me. He heard the small laugh I let out and looked my way. "Ohh that's it." He growled.

I laughed and ran to the other side of the bath house, where there was another water fountain. I repeated the same process, getting my hands wet and splashing him. He caught me by my arms, picked me up, carried me back to the benches and sat me down next to him. Kelly sure was taking a while in that bathroom...

We sat for a few more minutes talking until Kelly came out of the bathroom, looking relieved. "I'm going to talk to your father when he picks you up." Dan warned jokingly.

"Good luck with that he's insane!" I called back.

* * *

"Good morning." Jason said sweetly. It was an abnormally cold morning. I mean, we were in the mountains, so it was usually cold, but this morning was _really _cold. He sat against my back, his warm skin touching mine.

"Mernin." I mumbled. I was still tired.

"Someone looks tired. Get much sleep?" He asked.

"Not really. Kelly woke me up at like four in the morning to take her to the bathroom. You?"

"Alright. Dan walked in at about that time laughing. He woke us all up."

"Sorry about that." I giggled.

"That was you? What happened?"

"Kelly was taking a long time in the bath house and Dan was looking tired. So I... splashed him with a bit of water fountain water..."

"You're kidding. That was awesome! Ready to get your overnight assignment? I'm sure as hell not." He said. Everybody was getting an overnight assignment after our lessons today. I was hoping to be in the same group as Jason was. There were, according to Jenica, four overnights. Not total, but they split the campers up into four different groups to go in different overnights.

The Hunter's Safety course is one of them. There are a bunch of kids who are into hunting and stuff that pay to take this course and learn how to shoot and stuff from the counselors.

Another is the Kart's Field. It's basically a small field to out our tents and stuff surrounded by trees.

Then there's Kart's Forest. It's right next to Kart's Field, and the two overnights came there together. It's a seven mile hike to both of them, and I'm really not looking forward to having to hike seven miles if I go on one of them.

The last one is Mongaup Pond. Whomever goes on this overnight gets to set up their tents right by the lake and swim and barbeque. That's the one I'm hoping to go on. Also, they drive you there in a van. Meaning you don't have to walk. SEVEN MILES.

* * *

After breakfast we got into our lesson groups. My group was being led today by a counselor names Justin. He asked us to pick a name for our group before we left for our overnight, and so far, our name was The Purple Pooping Pandas. No joke.

We were walking through the archery field when I felt like someone was watching me. I turned around quickly and almost rammed into Josh. "Hey." He said awkwardly.

"Hi." I said. I hadn't seen him since Jenica and I were fooling around during the rain storm.

"So... your cabin seemed to be having fun during the ran storm." He noted.

"Yeah. You guys were staring at us." I said with a small smile.

He seemed to get suddenly defensive. "Well I wasn't looking at you!" He said.

"Okay then..." I said, and walked faster until I caught up with the other girls in my group, Shannon and Izzy. They were cool, but neither were from my cabin.

Shannon was an old camper here. It was week six of summer, and she's been coming since week one. She had strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes. Izzy reminds me a bit of Leo. She was Bobby's big sister and she told us her mom was from Spain.

"Hey girls." I said, trying to avoid Josh.

"Hey Piper. What overnight are you hoping to go to? Probably one with your boyfriend, right?" Izzy teased. My cabin and those girls were the only people I told about what happened between me and Jason. From what I heard, Jason told Leo, this kid Matt, and Bobby.

I blushed a little. "He isn't technically my boyfriend... But I want to go to Mongaup. Sounds like the least amount of effort." I said.

* * *

Lesson group ended pretty fast. I was excited for lunch to get our assignments, so I kind of rushed to get back to my cabin to pee and fill up my water bottle. I tripped when I got into the bathroom stall, and I banged my knee on the floor. It hurt, but I didn't really notice it. I quickly peed and got out just in time to hear the counselors call circle up.

We played the strangest game ever. I'm not even going to go into detail it was so strange. I'll just say that it ended with everyone grouped together with their cabin mates. They dismissed us by asking us to do faces, and whatever cabin did that certain face the best got to go. "Alright. Whatever cabin can do the saddest face can go." Junior teased. I made a sad face and looked at my fellow Neversinkians. They all had pouty faces on. "Uhmm... I don't know... Neversink looks pretty sad." Mick, yet another counselor, teased. "Yeah, everyone except Piper, she looks pretty high." Cody commented. I started laughing and I left. Oh Cody...

"Ready for your assignment?" Jason asked, turning on the faucet beside me to wash his hands. His cabin must've gotten dismissed next.

"I guess. What are you hoping to get?" I asked. The water turned off on it's own so I grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and dried off my hands.

"Well, I'm not in Hunter's Safety, so that's completely out of the question. Kart's Field and Forest I'm too lazy to hike, although it would make a good place to shoot my film. I'm going to have to go with Mongaup." He says. Good, we want to be in the same overnight.

"Me too. See you in there." I said, touching his forearm lightly as I left.

I walked into the Dining Hall just in time to see everybody sitting down. Apparently, some people didn't want to wash their hands. We ate fast, a few hamburgers left over here and there, but we managed to eat our fool in record time and quiet down fast to hear the overnight assignments. All that was really left was clean up, which only took a few minutes.

"Pack Forest, what time is it?" One of the Volunteer's asked.

"Clean up time!" We all shouted in unison.

"What?" She shouted back.

"Clean up time!" We shouted again.

"Alright." She said.

"Uh-huh." We said in agreement.

"Hoppers hop to it!" She said, and exited to the kitchens.

Let me explain one of the most annoying things about this camp. For every meal at each different cabin there were "Hoppers". Before we entered the Dining Hall for a meal the Volunteer's would put a sticker under someone's plate, or flip someones cup upside down or something, and the person who sat where those things were placed was called the "Hopper". They just had to stack the plates and cups up and bring them to the kitchen.

"Okay... everybody... are you ready for overnight assignments?" Mick asked.

Everybody nodded.

"Alright. So... first overnight we're calling is for Kart's Field. Anyone who hears their name is going to be with me and Greg tonight. So... if your name is Shannon, Matt, John, Jason, Cody, Sabrina, Jenny, Piper, or Scott, please line up outside this very lovely door." He said, pointing to the back door.

Jason and I were on the same overnight, yes! I spotted him eyeing me and smiling across the room, and when we both stood up, we casually went to stand by each other. His blonde hair was shiny in the bright sunlight, and his lips looked even more kissable then ever. This was going to be a long overnight.

* * *

So, after about three and a half hours of hiking, we finally made it to Kart's Field. It was starting to get dark, so Mick and Greg told us to go find sticks and bring back a bundle each. Jason and I went off in the woods with Shannon and Cody. We talked for a while, picking up a few sticks here and there. The only one who got a whole bundle together was Cody, so he and Shannon left Jason and I there alone.

"So... that was... quite a walk wasn't it?" Jason remarked.

"That it was." I agreed.

"I think I lost all that weight I gained from eating camp food." He joked. I nodded and looked into his eyes. His bright blue eyes shimmered with joy.

"Jason... is there... something... going on between us?" I asked suddenly.

"I-I don't- I mean I guess- but- if you want there to be?" He said awkwardly, his sentence (or what was supposed to be a sentence) ending in a small voice.

"I do... I mean..." I sighed, frustrated. "I don't know. I really liked you when I first met you. Then I thought there was no hope so I sort of liked Josh. Then I saw Josh with Kaylynn and I got upset. Then you kissed me and now I'm falling for you again." I quickly explained. Hey, I might as well tell him the truth.

"So... am I like... a rebound?" He asked, confused.

"No. You're the original. Josh was kind of a rebound because I thought you didn't like me like that."

"Of course I like you like that! That kiss was amazing! Do you really think I would've kissed you if I didn't like you?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Maybe? Will this convince you then?" He said seductively. He kissed me again, only this time with more passion and want. I kissed him back, and as he cupped my face with his hands I put mine around the back of his neck and played with his hair. His lips were soft and nice, and I wondered what was going through his head now. I felt dizzy, like because for once in my life thins were going absolutely perfect and it was overwhelming. My mind was spinning and I deepened the kiss. I ran my fingers along his strong arms, gripping them and rubbing my thumb along his strong muscle. He shivered at my touch but didn't pull away. He responded by moving his hands up and down my back. Now it was my turn to shiver. We pulled away at the same time, gently. Our faces were only a few inches apart.

"I don't know. I might need a little more convincing." I whispered. I leaned forward and connected our mouths again. Our lips worked in unison. His tongue grazed my lower lip, asking for entrance into my mouth. I obliged, and kept moving my hands around him until they came to rest at the bottom of his shirt. My fingers snuck up his shirt and ran my finger tips along his stomach. Our noses rubbed against each other and I'd never felt so happy in my life to be alone with a boy.

"How long has this been going on?" A voice interrupted us. We broke apart and I looked up to see who was talking to us. It was Jenica. I'd forgotten how close the Kart's Field and Forest were. We were technically on their spot. Jencia must've been out looking for sticks for her counselor when she stumbled into us. Who was her partner though?

"Nice job buddy!" Leo said from behind Jenica. That answered my question.

"Shut it Leo." I warned. The darkening sky made his skin seem even more tan, or maybe it was just from being out in the sun for so long. Jason took my hand in his and nodded slightly at Leo and Jenica before taking both of their bundles of sticks, giving one of them to me, and walking away like nothing just happened.

"What just... Why did you..." I said, at a loss for words.

We got back to the field last and everyone was staring at us when we walked back. "The other group stole or bundles right out of our hands, so we had to find these." Jason explained simply. I was simply amazed at him. Sure, on the outside he looks like a simple guy who follows the rules, but in reality, he was just as bad-ass as the rest of us.

* * *

"_At the far end of town, where the Grickle-Grass grows, and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows, and no birds ever sing excepting old crows, is the Street of the Lifted Lorax. And deep in the Girckle-Grass, some people say, if you look deep enough you can still see, today, where the Lorax stood, just as long as it could, before somebody lifted the Lorax away. What was the Lorax? And why was it there? And why was it lifted and taken somewhere, from the far end of town, where the Grickle-Grass grows? The old Once-ler still lives here, ask him, he knows. You won't see the Once-ler, don't knock at his door. He stays in the Lerkim on top of his store. He lurks in his Lerkim, cold under the roof, where he makes his own clothes, out of miff-muffered moof. And on special, dank, midnights in August, he peeks, out of the shutters and sometimes he speaks, and tells you of how the Lorax was lifted away. He'll tell you perhaps, if you're willing to pay..." _Junior recited.

I drifted off to the faint words of the small counselor reciting The Lorax...

**That was a loooong chapter! Took me forever to write! The Lorax is my favorite story, and I literally wrote that whole thing from memory. seriously. *caugh**caugh* Don't own The Lorax *caugh**caugh***

**~Becca**


	5. Couldn't think of a name for Chapter 5!

Sunlight hit my eyes as I woke up. It looks like some idiot opened the tent windows last night. No wonder it's freezing in the tent. I heard kids screaming outside, probably because their sleeping bags were soaked. It rained last night, and that's what happens when you don't close your tent door at night. I woke Shannon up, whose face was now very close to my feet.

"Shannon," I said, "Get up."

She groaned and sat up, then looked at me with an evil glare. "What?"

"Come with me to get changed. By that tree in the clearing."

She groaned a little, but eventually she got up and took her clothes with her to the tree. Here's the story, yesterday Shannon and I found this little tree in a clearing deep in the woods. We couldn't tell what tree it really was, but to me it looked like a Willow, which is strange since they don't normally grow around here. We dragged Cody and Jason back there to show them, and they dared Shannon and I climb it. I've had worse dares. We both did it in the end, but that tree was actually kind of fun to climb.

I dragged Shannon into the woods and we went to the bathroom (Since we were in the woods, there weren't any bathrooms, so Mick told us that we should use the facile_trees_) and got changed behind the tree we now called "Cody, Shannon, Piper, and Jason's Special Tree", which is yet another memory I am going to make at this camp.

When Shannon and I got back to the campsite, everybody was gathered around the circle eating breakfast. It looked like they were having trouble toasting the English Muffins on two sticks, so Mick went into the woods and came back with a skillet, woven from tree branches, which was pretty crazy. They were able to toast nine English Muffins on this Mickvention.

"Hey there." A sleepy Jason said, taking a seat next to me and casually putting his hand on mine. Since we weren't allowed to date at this camp, we had to do it secretly... So naturally, everybody knows.

"Hey." I responded. I was about to say something else but Junior, who came on our overnight, interrupted me.

"Piper, what do you want for breakfast? Peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and jelly?" Junior asked jollily, looking at me with bright blue eyes.

"Ham and cheese." I said without thinking. My dad used to ask me that before I went to school every day, in elementary school that is. Now he just gives me money and tells me to buy lunch. I looked back at Junior to see her smile faded. "PB & J..." I mumbled, making everybody in the group laugh.

* * *

We set off around noon for camp again, and this time the hike wasn't so bad since it was all downhill. We reached camp way before the other campers, so we had the whole camp all to ourselves. The counselors had to go do 'work', which I knew was just code for sleep all day.

"What do you wish to do, my lady?" Jason asked in a bad British accent.

"Don't even try... But, I think you should decide what we do, since we only have like, what, two days left?" I asked, and finally reality hit me like a bullet. We were leaving in three days. _LEAVING. _I was never going to see Jenica, or Leo, or any of my other friends, besides Jason, ever again. We all lived on opposite sides of New York State.

"Well... since we have so little time left, how about filming? I would _really _like to get some footage in..." Jason said, already knowing my answer and reaching for his camera out of his bag.

"You already know my answer." I stated the obvious.

With Jason's camera pointed at me, I dragged him over to the fire pit, where there wasn't anybody. We sat there for a moment in silence, Jason's camera fixed on me, until I finally said something. "I bet you're wondering where we are, and who I am. Well, I'm Piper, Jason's secret girlfriend and we're at the best place in the world, Pack Forest, surrounded by people who are probable the best in the world." I said, taking a pause and looking at Jason. He looked inspired to me, like he was an artist and I was his favorite piece of artwork, giving him inspiration at every glance. He put his camera down on the rocks of the fire pit, facing us, and scooted closer to me.

"Pack Forest." Jason breathed. "How do we begin to describe it? I think I'll start with the people. We leave in a few days time... and I really don't think I'm ready to go home. Maybe that's how everybody feels, like they never want to leave. I got here a few days ago, thinking I wouldn't make any friends, or I would want to just come home hang out with friends, but I don't. I want to stay right here with the people I love. Here's Piper, my secret girlfriend. The golden rule at camp is 'You can love camp, but this is not love camp', so we have to keep our relationship a secret. She's an amazing singer. Sing something Piper." Jason said to me. His blue eyes looked right into me.

I thought long and hard about this. I knew tons of songs, but one seemed just right for this moment.

"_I don't like walkin' 'round this old and empty house,_

_So hold my hand I'll walk with you my dear,_

_The stairs creak as you sleep, it's keeping me awake,_

_It's the house telling you to close your eyes,_

_Some days I can't even, trust myself,_

_It's killing me to see you this way,_

_'Cause though the truth may vary this,_

_ship will carry our bodies safe to shore."_

I continued through the song until I finished. Jason looked at me with those blue eyes, his gorgeous blue eyes, and I saw exactly what was coming next. He leaned over to where I was sitting and kissed me like we'd never kissed before, which was ridiculous because we had. I snaked my arms around his neck and I feel like we're back in the woods during the overnight, only this time Leo and Jenica aren't here to ruin it. As Jason's hands move down my sides, I can practically feel the sparks of love radiating off of us. Jason pulls away gently.

"Piper I-"

"There you guys are! Filming?" I hear Leo as he walks over to us and sits down.

"Yeah. This is Leo. He's the first person I met at camp... and probably the only one, other than Piper, that I'm really going to want to keep in touch with after camp is over. We're in the same cabin, Mongaup, and I can tell he's got a little thing for Jenica, Piper's best friend." Jason said.

"I do not have a thing for Jenica! She's just really nice. Did you guys know that Matt asked her out?" Leo asked, watching Jason as he walked over to his camera and shut it off.

"No..." Both of us said in unison.

"Probably because you were too busy sucking face." Leo mumbled.

"Why would he ask her out though?" I asked, and I'll admit, I was being a bit protective over Jenica. I mean, she was my first real friend, we were practically sisters already!

"I don't know... she has nice skin..."**(Half-Blood Prince reference for all you Potterheads out there!)** Leo suggested.

"Nice skin? You're saying that Matt just wants to go out with her because she has nice skin?" I ask. That's when Jason cuts in.

"I mean, Piper has nice skin, but that's not the only reason I like her."

"Well, you aren't Matt, not are you?" Leo said. His eyes were wide now, and his face was almost completely red. He liked Jenica, I could see it.

"What are you kids doing back here at this hour?" Junior asked from the path that led to the fire pit. I could see what she was talking about, the sun was almost completely set and we weren't even in our cabins.

"Night guys." I told Jason and Leo, then I began wandering back to my cabin.

**That took me FOREVER to write. Sorry guys, I've had a bit of writers block lately!**

**~Becca**


End file.
